Talk to any sportsperson and he or she will tell you how difficult it is to call it a day. More so for the successful. There are always pulls and pressures to retire or to stage a comeback.Athletes retire for different reasons and sometimes come out of retirement for the same reasons. Some bow out because of injuries, some citing incompatibility with the team management and some others over differences with teammates. Some take a break, like cricketers are doing now to address “mental” issues. They are under constant stress and that’s where temperament comes into play.
Not all can take retirement as a natural progression in life. For sportspersons, it is that much more difficult because they don’t have long careers. If some stick around, mostly in the case of superstars, it is because they know their names sell in the ad world and they can cash in on their popularity even when their ability is on the downswing. This week, two decisions caught the eye. One by Ambati Raydu, who right through his career has been in the news for wrong reasons, and the other is Murali Vijay.
Rayudu found his latest target in Mohammed Azharuddin, the newly-elected Hyderabad Cricket Association president. Rayudu has a point when he told Azhar not to get caught in the web of careerist officials, whom he called crooks, and use the opportunity he got to cleanse the system. Both Azhar and Rayudu know it is a big ask. Rayudu has over the years taken on the cricket establishment in Hyderabad and also did not let the opportunity to tick off the chairman of national selectors.
In his chequered career, he took the risk of quitting first-class cricket to join the rebel Indian Cricket League after a fight with the Yadav family then ruling in the HCA. He was back with the establishment under an amnesty scheme and performed too, to play for India in the shorter formats.He was hard done by the selectors when they dropped him for the World Cup after leading him up the garden-path, convincing him that he was the No 4. In a huff he announced his retirement, but in one of his saner moments decided to withdraw his decision.
The other player nursing a grouse is Vijay, the opening batsman, who says he has not been given an opportunity to stage a comeback. He thinks he has been wronged by the selectors after one bad year.
Sport is cruel. Vijay’s replacements quickly found their feet in international cricket and to make matters worse for him, Rohit Sharma started with a bang after getting promoted to open the innings.
One can sympathise with Vijay because he was dropped from the central contracts altogether, from the elite ‘A’ Category without a care for his record. He was forgotten when it came to picking India A or Duleep Trophy teams. That hurt him more as his comeback hopes got dashed.Vijay ruefully asks the right question: “I am a great fan of Indian domestic cricket, but what after this? Can I just keep dreaming that I will make a comeback or is there a structure that can make it possible?” He deserves an answer, but none are forthcoming from the establishment.